Tuesday 26th Sep, 2017
By Fiona Czerniawska
In previous articles on this blog, we’ve talked about ‘Fortress Strategy’, the idea (originally voiced by a client) that the major strategy firms remain firmly in a segment of their own. Clients, looking for independent support around a strategic, probably contentious decision, that will re-shape their businesses, will only turn to one of a very small number of players. But what sounds like a fabulous position has serious disadvantages: while clients see a big wall between these firms and the rest, they’re as reluctant to let them out, as they are to let others in. The fortress, in other words, becomes a prison.
Tuesday 25th Apr, 2017
By Fiona Czerniawska.
Avid readers of our blog will be familiar with our concept of Fortress Strategy: the idea that clients have mentally erected thick walls around the major strategy firms that prevent other firms entering their space, but which equally trap strategy firms in a business model that doesn’t necessarily suit current market conditions.
Wednesday 5th Apr, 2017
By Fiona Czerniawska.
Size has long mattered in the consulting industry: in the last five years, we estimate that firms with more than 1,000 consultants have grown by 46%, 2.3 times the rate of smaller ones.
That’s not new: if you went back to the 1970s and tracked firms’ growth since, allowing for all the inevitable mergers and acquisitions, you’d see that the firms that dominated consulting then are still those that rule the roost today. Smaller firms come and go, but the big firms march relentlessly on. There are several reasons for this. Big firms are more likely to work on big projects for big clients: if you’re the CEO of a major corporation you’d don’t hire a ten-person firm to do the global roll-out of your new strategy. You may bring small firms in for specialist advice, and you may well be prepared to pay a premium price for that, but you don’t expect them to cover the ground. With more money coming in, big firms have been able to invest in account management, so they’re alert to upcoming opportunities and are more likely to win them because they know those involved. The biggest firms, too, have been able to attract the best people because they pay more and claim to offer more interesting work with iconic brands.
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